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Pherky wrote:
How unprofessional was all that. I bet Swindon are laughing loud at the moment.
Chairmen and Manager should be above all this. Lets hope the air is now clear and the players can just get on with it.
This has been simmering for a long time.

Well done to IL - can't see how he acted unprofessionally. How was he unprofessional?"

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It's all over as Chris Wilder's Oxford United reign ends

First published
in Headlines
Last updated
by David Pritchard, Chief Sports Reporter covering Oxford United. Follow us on twitter: @oxfordmailoufc. Call me on 01865 425458

A TURBULENT weekend at Oxford United finally reached a conclusion last night when Chris Wilder’s lengthy spell as manager officially ended.

At 10pm it was revealed the club had accepted the 46-year-old’s resignation and agreed compensation to pave the way for him to be unveiled as Northampton Town boss this morning.

He quickly signed a three-and-a-half year deal at Sixfields, appointing Alan Knill as his assistant.

It eventually drew a line under what had been a farcical 24 hours.

Within minutes of the final whistle in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Torquay United, Wilder, who took over in December 2008, told the players it was probably his last game in charge.

He left the ground and U’s chairman Ian Lenagan spoke to the media at length, saying he understood the manager had resigned and Mickey Lewis had been appointed as caretaker-boss, although there was no formal letter.

A confusing situation was summed up by the U’s chairman when he said: “In some respects at the back of my mind I’m not glad that we’ve reached this situation, but at least the situation has been resolved one way or the other, or at least I think it has.”

But those comments provoked a swift response from Wilder, who put out a statement denying he had stepped down.

It was clear the relationship between the pair had completely broken down, but after a day of negotiations behind the scenes yesterday, United finally broke their silence to bring clarity to the situation last night.

Time's up: Chris Wilder has left his role as Oxford United boss

The move removed the possibility of a drawn-out legal battle, which Lenagan hinted at on Saturday, but there remains the awkward fact that Wilder has walked out on a side in the play-offs to join a club four points adrift at the bottom of the Football League.